The group of militants who allegedly abducted and murdered the six Meiteis — three women, two minors and a 10-months-old infant — in Jiribam last month included women, the family members of the victims said at a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday.
The family members, who said they have reached the Capital to ensure their voices are heard during the ongoing Parliament session, also questioned why no arrests had been made in the case.
Recounting the November 11 attack, Telem Nongyai said, “I was playing at a neighbour’s house when I saw over 30-40 men and some women shouting. As soon as some of them started burning houses in our village, people started shouting that they were Kuki militants. My friend and I hid in the field nearby while those men entered houses and burnt some of them.”
“We did not know anything about the attack because we were hiding in the bushes. Much later, when CRPF people came and rescued us, I realised that my mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, and her children were taken,” said Nongyai, 12.
Nongyai’s mother, Thoibi Devi, 32, and sister Thajamanvi Devi, 8, were among the people abducted that afternoon.
{{/usCountry}}Nongyai’s mother, Thoibi Devi, 32, and sister Thajamanvi Devi, 8, were among the people abducted that afternoon.
{{/usCountry}}The family plans to hold protests at different places across Delhi, Nongyai’s father, Uttam Singh said.
“The militants also tried to capture my eldest son that afternoon… Somehow he managed to flee from the house. All this while my younger son Nongyai was hiding in the bushes,” Singh said.
“Why are MPs in Parliament not talking about my wife, children and the relatives who have been murdered. Most importantly why has no one been arrested in the case?” Singh asked.
The bodies of the six women and children, which were recovered at different places along the Manipur-Assam border led to protests across the state capital, Imphal. Demanding justice for the Meitei family and protesting against chief minister Biren Singh-led government, the protesters also vandalised and burnt houses of MLAs.
The November 11 incident plunged the state, which has been in the throes of violence between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities since May 3 last year, deeper into crisis. The ethnic strife has claimed at least 260 lives and left tens of thousands displaced from their homes.